


our world is a kaleidoscope

by doodles357



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Crushes, Falling In Love, First Kiss, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 07:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19970083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doodles357/pseuds/doodles357
Summary: Everyone is born only seeing black and white. When they turn sixteen, they start being able to see color - but only if it's something that their soulmate has touched first.It's Cyrus' sixteenth birthday, and he's about to find out who his soulmate is.





	our world is a kaleidoscope

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this quite a while ago, but I forgot to post it. So, in honor of the finale quickly approaching and it being Tyrus week, here it is!

When Cyrus woke up the morning of his sixteenth birthday, he lay in bed for a few minutes with his eyes closed. Now that he was sixteen, he would be able to start seeing colors. In theory, at least. Everyone was born only able to see in black and white. Once they hit their sixteenth birthday, they would start to be able to see colors. However, the only things they would see in color would be things their soulmates came into physical contact with. This was supposed to be able to lead people to finding their soulmates. Once they did so, and they shared their first kiss with their soulmate, they would be able to see everything in color.

Cyrus knew that logically he would still see everything in his room in black and white like usual. Once his soulmate touched something, it would take an hour for it to actually change colors for him to see, and no one had been in his room for the last hour. But now he had the potential to see things in color for the first time. Cracking his eyes open, his assumptions were proven correct. Everything in his room looked exactly the same. Sighing, he rolled out of bed and started getting ready for school.

His nerves started building as he was in the car on the way to school. He had no way of knowing who his soulmate was, but if they went to school with him, he would find out today. It tended to vary for people; sometimes they met their soulmate in high school, and other times they didn’t until they went to college or even later on in life. Some people ended up traveling and meeting their soulmate in another state or country. The theory was that your soulmate would be somewhere that you could meet them, no matter what. A lot of the people who traveled did so if they hadn’t found their soulmate by a certain point, and the idea was that they were destined to travel that far to meet that person.

Cyrus was the youngest of his friend group, and so he was the last one to turn sixteen. Most of his friends had already started seeing color, and some had even found their soulmates already. Buffy had been first, of course, and she had done her best to explain to the others what color looked like. However, Cyrus had no way of actually conceptualizing it. Part of him was excited just for that aspect; knowing what the different colors looked like. His friends would have to teach him what each one was. That was a little strange to him, but he was excited to learn.

His heart thumped slightly as they pulled up in front of the school. His mother bade him goodbye and drove off. As he entered the building, he kept a careful eye out. He knew it was unlikely that anyone had been in the school for an hour already and touched anything, but he was still on edge. There was also a little part of him that was worried that he wouldn’t see any color at school. That would mean that his soulmate was somewhere else in the world. He wasn’t sure which was scarier; knowing that he could meet his soulmate in high school or knowing that he wouldn’t.

After dropping his stuff at his locker, he headed down to the library where his friends tended to gather before classes start. Buffy and Jonah were already there, and he plopped down at the table next to them.

“Happy birthday!” Buffy said, leaning over to give him a hug. “Any colors yet?”

“Nope,” Cyrus said.

“Are you excited? Nervous?” Jonah asked.

“A little of both,” Cyrus admitted. Jonah was one of the few people that Cyrus knew who couldn’t see color yet, despite being sixteen. He had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that his soulmate didn’t go to their high school. It didn’t stop him from dating still. Soulmate or not, Jonah was a good-looking guy, and plenty of girls were willing to go out with him. There was a time that Cyrus had wished Jonah would be his soulmate, but that had long passed. Now, he was a little reassured that even if he didn’t find his soulmate in high school, he wouldn’t be the only one.

“I can’t wait to teach you all the colors,” Buffy said. “It’s fun finding out what people’s favorite colors are.”

“What do you think mine will be?” Cyrus asked. He obviously didn’t have any concept of the different colors yet, but he was curious.”

“Hmm,” Buffy mused. “I’m thinking either green or blue.”

She was interrupted by Andi who collapsed at the table, looking exhausted.

“What’s wrong with you?” Cyrus asked her.

“Stayed up too late,” Andi mumbled from where she had buried her face in her arms. “Tired.”

“Craft project?” Buffy asked, giggling when Andi nodded.

Andi could see some colors, but she wasn’t sure who her soulmate was yet. There were random spots around school and some places in town that were colorful to her, but she didn’t have any idea who it was. She had always been crafty, but once she started seeing color, she had gotten even more into it. However, since she didn’t know who her soulmate was, all her craft supplies were still black and white, which frustrated her to no end. Buffy and Cyrus had often joked that Andi wanted to find her soulmate just so she could bring that person into Andi Shack, so they could touch everything.

“Oh, happy birthday Cyrus,” Andi said, lifting her head up slightly. “Anything yet?”

“Nope,” Cyrus replied. Marty came over then, giving Buffy a quick kiss before immediately starting a conversation about some basketball game that had been on TV the night before.

When the bell rang, Cyrus jumped slightly. In the safety of the library with his friends, he had almost forgotten about seeing colors. Now he was going out into the school where, by the end of the day, he would know one way or another.

\-------

His first few classes passed without incident. He was able to focus on the lessons and tried not to think too much about his birthday. It was when he got to gym class that things changed though. Turning the corner to the locker room, he stopped dead in his tracks in front of the door.

It was a color. He could see it clear as day. The door to the locker room was a color. He had no idea what color it was, but it was definitely not black, gray, white. It wasn’t super bright, but it was something he had never seen before.

“What’s wrong, Cyrus?” came a voice behind him. He turned to see one of the guys from his gym class.

“Do you know what color the door is?” he asked, his voice shaking.

“It’s brown,” the guy said, looking confused at first. Then his expression cleared up. “Whoa, can you see color now?”

“I guess so, Cyrus said. The guy (Matt?) clapped him on the back and pushed his way into the locker room. As the door swung open, Cyrus caught glimpses of other colors in the room. He followed Matt in, his eyes wide. A few of the lockers and one of the benches were in color. The bench was a shade of brown as well, but the lockers were something different. Bright and vibrant. It was odd, because only a few of the lockers were colored in, instead of all of them. Whoever his soulmate was must have touched a few of them, but not all of them.

His soulmate.

In his excitement of seeing colors for the first time, Cyrus had forgotten about that part of it. His soulmate did go to school here. He had gym class before Cyrus, and he had touched a bunch of stuff in the locker room. The realization shocked him, and he found himself going through the motions of changing for class without even being aware of doing so.

Going into the gym was an entire experience on its own. The bleachers were the first thing that caught his eye. They were a darker color, but he didn’t have a name for it yet. One of the walls of the gym was colorful, and so was the floor. The floor looked like a very light brown color, and the wall was a mixture of colors. The gym teacher was standing next to the cart of basketballs, and several of them were colored as well. Cyrus reluctantly joined in with his classmates in running warm up laps. He just wanted to sit and look at everything.

After gym class, Cyrus got dressed quickly. He had lunch next, and he wanted to see if there was anything else in color outside of the gym. Plus, he needed to talk to his friends as soon as possible. Out in the hallways, he started to notice little splashes of color here and there. A handful of lockers were in color. One of the trash cans in the corner of the hallway. A couple of people’s shirts. Whoever his soulmate was must have brushed up against some people and lockers. Cyrus’ head was swimming, and he wanted to look at everything at once.

He was the first one at the lunch table, and since he had brought his lunch from home, all he could do was sit and wait. Impatiently, he started eating his sandwich, scanning the lunchroom for his friends. A few shirts were in color, but nothing major stood out. There was a good chance his soulmate hadn’t been in the cafeteria in the last hour, so that’s why there weren’t any big items, like tables, in color.

“I hope they have something good today,” he heard behind him as Buffy slung her backpack onto a seat. “I’m starving.”

He turned towards her and ended up freezing in shock. Buffy was in color. Her skin, her clothes, her hair – everything. She noticed his stare and looked confused.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You’re colorful,” he managed to squeak out. She frowned at him and then her expression lit up in glee as she realized what he meant.

“You can see it!” she squealed, throwing her arms around him. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!”

“Who did you touch today?” he managed to say into her shoulder. She broke apart from him and scrunched up her eyebrows as she thought about it.

“Honestly, probably a lot of people,” she said. “Played basketball in gym class and did a lot of high-fiving. Bumped into people in the hallway.”

“Your clothes are too,” Cyrus pointed out. “So, it’s probably not from gym class then.”

“Hmm,” she mused. “I wish I would have been paying attention. And it’s too late now.”

“What color is your shirt?” Cyrus asked her suddenly. She looked down and smiled.

“Ooh, this is the fun part!” she said. “I can’t wait to teach you all the colors!”

“Buffy,” Cyrus whined.

“Red,” she said before ruffling his hair and heading off to the hot lunch line.

Red. He had seen red already. Some of the gym wall had red on it. Some of the lines on the gym floor were red. One or two other shirts on students were red. He stared around eagerly, looking for more.

“What’s up?”

He was interrupted from his thoughts by TJ who dropped down onto the seat across from him.

“Where were you this morning?” Cyrus asked before realizing that TJ was also in color.

“Overslept,” TJ shrugged. “Didn’t get to school until, like, three minutes before the bell. What?”

He had noticed Cyrus staring at him.

“You’re in color,” Cyrus said in awe. “Whoa.”

TJ blinked in surprise. “You can see…it’s your birthday!”

“Yeah,” Cyrus said distractedly. TJ’s shirt was black, which was disappointing, but the basketball hoop on the front was a couple of different colors. His hair was a color that Cyrus hadn’t quite identified yet; it was close to brown but seemed too light. And his eyes were a new color too. Not the same as Buffy’s.

TJ looked a little uncomfortable by Cyrus’ intense stare, and his cheeks were starting to change color. They were almost like a light red.

“Sorry,” Cyrus apologized, snapping his gaze away. “This is all pretty new to me.”

“I’ll bet,” TJ said, opening up his lunch bag (it was brown!) “How many colors have you learned so far?”

“Just brown and red,” Cyrus said. He hesitated slightly before asking TJ the next question. He knew TJ could see color, but he had remained tight-lipped about it. No one had any idea who his soulmate was, or if TJ even knew yet.

“What color is on your shirt?” Cyrus finally asked. TJ glanced down at the shirt he was wearing.

“Black,” he replied before taking a big bite of his sandwich. Cyrus rolled his eyes.

“Obviously,” he said. “I meant the other colors.”

TJ looked down at his shirt again.

“Orange,” he said, pointing to the basketball. “Yellow,” he pointed at a different part of the shirt. “And green.”

Cyrus had seen orange for sure, having seen the basketballs in the gym earlier. He also recognized green and yellow from some of the shirts other people were wearing.

“No, I wanted to teach him!” Buffy exclaimed, sitting back down with her lunch tray.

“There are still several colors left,” TJ rolled his eyes. “And I wasn’t going to ignore him when he asked.”

Buffy narrowed her eyes at TJ before turning back to Cyrus. “Okay, so this is blue,” she said, pointing at her pants.

“Got it,” Cyrus said. It was the only other color on her that he didn’t recognize.

“Are there any others that you don’t recognize yet?” she asked. Before he could answer though, he heard an excited shriek behind him.

“Can you see them?” came Andi’s exclamation.

“Yes,” he said, turning to look at her. She wasn’t in color, to his surprise. Apparently, she hadn’t touched his soulmate yet. She flung her arms around him and gave him a hug.

“Do you have any idea who it is yet?” she asked excitedly.

“No clue,” he said. “All I know is that they had gym class before me, and they’ve bumped into both Buffy and TJ.”

“Ooh, they’re in color for you?” she said, turning to look at them. “It’s weird, isn’t it? How some people are, and some aren’t. Am I?”

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head.

Soon, the rest of their friends joined them, and Cyrus’ news was quickly shared. Jonah wanted to speculate on who it was, while Marty was more interested in helping teach him the colors. However, since Cyrus didn’t see any new ones that he didn’t recognize, that ended pretty quickly.

The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion. He saw colors splashed across the school, seemingly at random. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to where the colors were coming from, and by the end of the day, he was no closer to knowing who his soulmate was. When he got home from school, he worked on his homework until his parents were done with work for the day. It had become a tradition for all four of them to take Cyrus out to eat on his birthday, and he would open presents afterwards. This year, he immediately got questions about the colors, and he admitted a little cautiously that yes, he could see them. All of his parents were pretty excited about it and bugged him about whether he knew who it was yet.

His parents were unusual, in the sense that his birth parents had gotten married and had him, despite the fact that they knew they weren’t soulmates. There were often cases where some people dated others who they knew weren’t their soulmates. This was more common in high school and college, especially if people dated before turning sixteen, or if they never saw colors in the school they were going to. However, it was pretty rare for people to commit to long-term relationships with those who weren’t their soulmate.

His parents had dated throughout high school and college and had decided that they were going to get married anyways. It had worked out fine for the first couple of years, but then they went to a work conference together. Halfway through, they both realized that their soulmates must be at the conference.

It was a messy time, and Cyrus remembered how tense things were for his parents while they tried to figure out what it meant for their relationship and marriage. Eventually, after meeting their individual soulmates, they decided to get divorced and both ultimately married their soulmates. However, they had remained close friends, and Cyrus ended up with four parents who generally got along pretty well with one another. It was an unusual situation, but he liked it.

After dinner and presents, he retired to his bedroom. It had been a long day, and he was excited to see what the next day would bring.

\-----

The rest of the week passed in a strange blur of colors mixed with black and white. His soulmate was clearly touching more stuff, but nothing helped him pinpoint who it was. Slowly, his friends came into color, one by one. More lockers and walls and other parts of the school became colorful, as did random lunch trays, gym equipment, desks, and tables. Cyrus learned a few new colors, but still nothing about who was responsible.

On Friday, he met Buffy at her locker, which was now a bright shade of red. She was grumbling to herself as she moved her books around inside of it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, leaning against the locker next to hers.

“I pulled one book out, and they all decided to just fall out,” she complained, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “It’s been one of those mornings, and it’s not even eight yet.

Cyrus made a noise of sympathy, which was followed closely by a loud snort. He looked up to see TJ watching Buffy struggle.

“Complaining already?” he said jokingly. “It’s Friday! Who cares about anything else?”

Buffy didn’t say anything, but made a rude hand gesture at TJ instead, which he just laughed at. Cyrus chuckled too, glad to see that they could get along even when giving each other a hard time. It was a nice shift from middle school, when they had genuinely seemed to not like each other.

“Any new colors?” TJ asked Cyrus who shook his head. At this point, he had pretty much seen them all. It was now just a matter of seeing everything in color. Buffy then straightened up, having successfully rearranged her books.

“All right, let’s go,” she declared. “I’m ready for this day to be over already.”

“Way to start off on a positive attitude,” TJ mocked her, getting another laugh from Cyrus. Buffy marched ahead of the boys, pointedly ignoring TJ. The two boys fell into step as they headed for the library.

It was odd; Cyrus felt as though he hadn’t spent a lot of time with TJ recently. Normally they hung out all the time. But this week it seemed as though TJ hadn’t been around as much.

“How have things been this week?” TJ asked him, shaking him out of his thoughts.

“Fine?” Cyrus said. “It’s a weird shift, but I think I’m getting used to it.”

“Yeah, it usually takes a week or so,” TJ agreed. “You will get used to it after a while though.”

“Do you have any idea who your soulmate is?” Cyrus asked suddenly, unable to help himself. He knew TJ didn’t really talk about the topic, but he was curious. He and TJ normally talked about everything, but it was the one subject TJ didn’t like to bring up. All Cyrus knew was that he could see colors, but as far as he knew, he hadn’t met his soulmate yet.

TJ was silent for a minute, and Cyrus wondered if he had overstepped. Then TJ said,

“I’m pretty sure you know who it is.”

“You do?” Cyrus asked in surprise. He felt a strange twinge in his stomach at the thought. TJ had never dated anyone, or even talked about who he liked. He didn’t even know where TJ’s interests lay, gender-wise. It was a subject that the other boy had always remained silent on. He was definitely an attractive guy who was pretty popular but had always been a bit of a lone wolf in that regard.

TJ shot him a look. “Yeah,” he replied simply.

“Have you said anything to them?” Cyrus asked.

“Not about being my soulmate,” TJ said.

“Why not?” Cyrus continued.

“I don’t know,” TJ said. “I kind of wanted to give them a chance to experience the colors first. You know, so they didn’t have to go into it with any expectations. And it is neat to be able to start seeing colors. I wouldn’t want to put pressure on someone with the soulmate stuff right away.”

“Hmm,” Cyrus mused. “I guess that makes sense. So, are you going to wait to see if they figure out that it’s you?”

“Yeah, I guess,” TJ said. “Wouldn’t you want that?”

“Me? What do you mean?” Cyrus asked.

“Well, would you want someone coming up to you and telling you that you’re soulmates before you could even see colors? Or as soon as you turn sixteen, you’re just told right away? I guess I just felt that it was more natural to discover it on your own.”

“What if your soulmate can’t figure it out?” Cyrus asked. “Like, you’re in your thirties and they still haven’t guessed that it’s you?”

TJ laughed at that. “I think I would try and give some pretty big clues before that. And if they really were that clueless for that long, I would probably take pity on them and tell them. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”

“Well, I’m clueless right now,” Cyrus said. “There are just too many people in this school. I don’t know if I’ll ever narrow it down.”

TJ elbowed him gently. “You’re smart. I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Besides, they’re your soulmate. You’re meant to be together. Isn’t that the whole point of this? It helps draw you to the person you’re meant to be with.”

Cyrus smiled gently at that. “Wow look at you. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say anything so sappy before.”

TJ snorted loudly. “Well, that’ll be the last time then.”

\-----

As Cyrus sat in his first class, he couldn’t help but ponder his earlier conversation with TJ. He had been more focused on the colors than the soulmate part of this whole experience. The colors were supposed to lead him to his soulmate, but he hadn’t thought much about who it would be. His last big crush had been on Jonah, but that had ended in middle school. It had been a complicated crush too; not only had it made him realize that he was gay, but Andi had been crushing on him at the same time, and eventually ended up dating him. Even though their relationship hadn’t lasted very long, it had still stung a bit.

After his crush on Jonah had ended, Cyrus decided that he wasn’t going to pursue anyone else. He didn’t want to go through having a crush on a straight guy again, especially if he was going to have to watch them date someone he cared about. Plus, he had figured that once he turned sixteen, he would find his soulmate and he wouldn’t have to worry about jealousy and other such feelings. So, he had focused his attention on school and his friendships and decided not to concern himself with relationship drama. Now, that wasn’t to say that he had never noticed any guys in the intervening years; he wasn’t blind, after all. But he had pushed any crush-like feelings away and waited patiently for his sixteenth birthday to arrive.

_It was supposed to draw him to the person he was meant to be with._ He had read countless books and articles about soulmates and how people _knew_ that a particular person was meant to be their soulmate. How everything seemed to just click when they met, and how their lives fit together so perfectly. A soulmate was someone who knew you better than anyone else and helped you to be your best self. Sometimes, if he was feeling cynical, Cyrus couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed by the descriptions. He had best friends that could fit that description, and there was no romantic element involved. But other times, he just hoped that there was someone out there that was seemingly perfect for him.

Now there was proof that there was someone. The splashes of color slowly appearing around the school were proof of that. He had seen them in other places too; the Spoon, some stores in town, and even random things like the button on the stop lights, or a tree or two in the park. But so far, it was random enough that it could be literally any teenager in town. He knew it had to be a guy, but that didn’t narrow it down much more. He tried thinking of people who he felt attracted to, but since he had avoided that for so long, it was mostly down to passing attractions without any actual deep connections, which didn’t tell him much.

He realized that he wasn’t paying attention to the lecture, and reluctantly drew himself out of his thoughts. His teacher wasn’t going to care that he needed to find his soulmate, and his GPA didn’t deserve to suffer because of it. He busied himself with copying down the notes from the board and trying to catch up with what the teacher was going over.

Near the end of class, the teacher turned down the lights and pulled up a short video for them to watch on the subject. Cyrus was able to pay attention and forgot about his soulmate worries for the time being. When the video ended, and the teacher flipped the lights back on, he blinked at the harsh brightness hitting his eyes. As he raised an arm to rub at his eyes, he froze.

His shirt was green.

At some point during class, his shirt had turned colorful. Which meant that his soulmate had touched his shirt earlier in the day. He stared at it in shock for a few seconds, only snapping out of his shock when he heard the bell ring. Scrambling to feet, he shoved his books into this backpack and joined the rest of his classmates who were streaming into the hallway.

Walking to his next class on autopilot, he wracked his brain, trying to remember who he had bumped into during the morning. There were so many people he may have touched earlier, most of whom he probably didn’t even realize. But whoever was his soulmate had been close enough to him to touch him. He wished he had been paying closer attention.

Through the rest of the day, Cyrus was on high alert, but none of his other clothing changed colors, so it must have been a one-off thing. He confided in his friends about it at lunch, and while they were fascinated, none of them were able to actually help him figure out who it was.

As the week went on, it kept happening. His backpack turned colorful, although he found it was actually a pretty boring tan color. One or two more of his shirts got the same treatment, but he still couldn’t figure out who had touched him. The greatest shock came when he went to the bathroom between classes and realized that he had finally turned colorful. He spent so much time staring at himself in the mirror that he ended up being late for his next class.

Needless to say, he was pretty frustrated by the end of the week. His soulmate must know him, since they came into contact several times. But a number of people tapped him, nudged him, and touched him in other ways, and it was too hard to narrow it down. He couldn’t help but wonder if his soulmate knew already; since he had a later birthday, he had kind of figured that his soulmate would be older than him. But it could be someone younger, who hadn’t turned sixteen yet. They could not even know it. But he wasn’t really friends with a ton of underclassmen, so he didn’t know if that was the case. And if they were older and they already knew, he couldn’t help but wish they would just tell him already. Or give him a more obvious clue.

On Friday, he found that he was glad it was almost the weekend. At least he could retreat to his black and white bedroom and take a break from wondering who his soulmate was. He went through the morning and lunch without any new color incidents, which he was grateful for. When he got to study hall, his second-to-last period of the day, he found that he didn’t really have any homework to work on. Most of his classes had some kind of quiz or end-of-unit wrap-up that day, so he didn’t have anything new to do.

“Do you have your history textbook with you by chance?” came a harried question from behind him. he turned in his seat to see TJ standing next to him, looking worried.

“Yeah, I do,” he replied, pulling it out of his bag. “Do you need it?”

“Yes, please,” TJ said, grabbing it gratefully. “I took mine home to study for the test, but I just realized I forgot it there this morning.”

“Is yours next hour?” Cyrus asked as TJ swung into the seat next to him.

“Yup,” TJ said. “And of course, I just realized my mistake now, so I didn’t even have time to call home and see if one of my parents could bring it.”

“Well, I took the test this morning, so have at it,” Cyrus offered, gesturing at his book. TJ thanked him gratefully before opening the book and flipping to the appropriate chapter. When study hall ended, TJ handed the book back with another thanks. Cyrus wished him luck on the test, slipping the book back into his bag.

His last class of the day seemed to drag on and on, but finally the final bell rang and they were free for the weekend. Cyrus headed for his locker, ready to be done with school for a few days. He started unloading his books into his locker, but suddenly froze.

His history textbook was in color.

He stared at it in shock, holding it halfway between his bag and his locker. The image of George Washington crossing the Delaware was in complete color, with the words AMERICAN HISTORY in bright red across the top of the book. His mind spun as he connected the dots.

He had lent his book to TJ just a little over an hour ago. TJ was the only person who had access to this particular book, and he had definitely touched it.

TJ was his soulmate.

\-----------

The weekend was not quite as relaxing as Cyrus had planned. After his discovery on Friday afternoon, he had rushed to TJ’s locker. The other boy never showed up. Either he had already been there, or he was avoiding it. He had to know what he had done. After their whole conversation about giving hints to his soulmate, there was no way it had been an accident.

However, after waiting for almost twenty minutes, and the hallways having emptied out, Cyrus realized that TJ wasn’t going to show. He walked home alone, unable to think of anything else. Part of him wanted to text TJ, but his courage failed him. The more he thought about it, the more unsure he grew. He had rushed to see TJ without thinking about it, but he had no idea what he would have said, had the other boy actually shown up.

TJ was his soulmate.

He knew. Of course, he knew. His birthday was a couple of months before Cyrus’, so he had been able to see colors for much longer. Cyrus had definitely touched stuff of TJ’s. He had been over to TJ’s house, and had probably turned half the house colorful. It was odd, Cyrus had realized at one point, to know that he had the ability to make things turn colorful just by touching them. He couldn’t see it himself, but someone else could. Without even realizing it, he had probably left a trail for TJ to follow.

But he hadn’t said anything. For months, he had to have known. Thinking back on their conversation, Cyrus realized that he and TJ had essentially been talking about themselves. TJ had been talking about _him_. He could have said something then, but he didn’t. Cyrus had expressed his desire to figure it out quickly though, so TJ must have been leaving him clues. But they spent so much time together that Cyrus didn’t even think twice about it when they touched casually. He did so with all his friends but had never considered that one of them would be his soulmate.

_It was supposed to draw him to the person he was meant to be with._

Once he had gotten over the initial shock and had worn himself out with the constant rehashing of conversations and moments that he had with TJ that should have clued him in earlier, he really had to come to terms with what this all meant.

TJ was his soulmate.

TJ was the person he was meant to be with. The person who knew him better than anyone. The person who he was supposed to have clicked with immediately, and whose life fit perfectly with his.

And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was true.

He and TJ were complete opposites in so many ways. Athletic ability, confidence levels, interests, personality. It was surprising that they had even become friends. But they had, despite all odds. And they remained friends, through several difficult situations. Their friendship had developed so easily that Cyrus had a hard time remembering what his life was like before TJ was in it. Even though it started off so difficultly, especially with everything that happened between TJ and Buffy with the basketball team, his friendship with TJ never really suffered.

TJ had helped him to come out of his shell, and to try new things, especially when they scared him. In return, he had helped TJ face his insecurities, and learn how to open up and trust people. They had always been good at bringing out the best in one another, and it had only helped to strengthen their friendship. And despite their different interests, they were always supporting one another and finding things to do together.

And Cyrus wasn’t blind. He knew TJ was attractive. He even had started to develop a crush on TJ back in middle school, not long after his crush on Jonah had faded. But he had pushed those feelings away. He valued his friendship with TJ too much, and he didn’t want to risk messing anything up. Plus, he had been pretty sure that TJ was straight, so he was just asking for heartbreak. And on top of all of that, there was the situation of soulmates. He knew that one day he and TJ would find their soulmates, and he definitely didn’t want to harbor a crush on TJ, and then watch him find his soulmate.

But here they were.

TJ had to have known what he was doing. Sure, he probably had actually needed the book, but he could have borrowed one from anyone else. He knew that Cyrus would have figured it out when he saw the book in color later. TJ wanted Cyrus to finally figure out that it was him. Since Cyrus was clearly not observant enough to catch his other clues, he must have felt like he needed to do something obvious.

Cyrus didn’t know why TJ hadn’t waited for him. Why he hadn’t caught up with him after classes, to see what his reaction was. Was he worried that Cyrus would be upset? Or that he would reject TJ? Or was it just that he wanted to give Cyrus time to process? Logically, Cyrus knew that he should just text or call, but it seemed like such an important conversation that should be had in person.

Or maybe he had purposely not shown up, so that Cyrus had some time to come to terms with it. He had expressed how he wouldn’t have liked it if he was straight up told who his soulmate was, so he wouldn’t have done it to someone else. Granted, it had taken Cyrus some time to wrap his head around the concept, but he didn’t need _that_ much time. And now he was in a weird spot where he didn’t know how to reach out.

After spending all Friday night, and the entire day Saturday going over everything again and again in his head and continually arriving at the same conclusions, Cyrus decided that he needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air. If nothing else, having something to do might take his mind off of things. He headed over to the park, which was his go-to spot when he was stressed or over thinking something.

The swings were empty when he got there, and the first thing he noticed was that TJ’s swing was in color. That meant TJ had been to the swings at some point since Cyrus’ birthday. The thought of TJ swinging alone, probably dealing with the soulmate issue, made Cyrus feel a little bit sad. He knew TJ used the swings when he needed to deal with difficult situations, and knowing he was the cause of one – even inadvertently – was upsetting to him. More than anything, he just wanted to talk to TJ about everything.

A few pumps of his legs later, and he was swinging quite high. The repetitive motion of the swing soon worked its magic, and he could feel himself relaxing. The rush of air past him felt good, and he could feel the tension in his body slowly releasing. It was hard for him to feel upset or worried for long when he was swinging. It was pretty much a fail safe method for making him feel better.

He became so lost in his own thoughts while swinging that he didn’t notice the figure approaching slowly from behind him. It was only when he heard the quiet voice behind him that he snapped back to attention and slowed down.

“Can I sit?”

It’s TJ. Of course, it’s TJ. Cyrus turned to see TJ standing almost next to him, hands in pockets. He’s not quite making eye contact.

“Yeah,” Cyrus said, not sure what else to say. TJ circled the swing and sat down. Cyrus was still going back and forth, and TJ pushed himself off the ground to get going.

They swung in silence for a minute or two. Conversation always came easily to them, even when the topics were difficult. Now there’s a heavy silence between them that they both seem scared to break.

It’s stupid, Cyrus finally realized. It’s stupid that they’re now nervous and unsure around each other. They knew each other better than anyone else in the world, and the universe was telling them that they were meant to be together. It shouldn’t be this hard.

“Your swing is in color,” Cyrus said, breaking the silence. TJ didn’t reply, but Cyrus could tell he was listening. “My history book is in color now.”

“Yeah,” TJ replied, his voice still quiet. Cyrus looked over at him. He was barely swinging, just letting momentum move his swing as the tips of his shoes dragged through the wood chips.

“We’re soulmates.”

TJ finally looked up at him. This time they made eye contact, and Cyrus was surprised to see that TJ looked nervous.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Cyrus asked as gently as he could. He didn’t want it to seem like he was mad at TJ. He wasn’t. He was just curious.

“I…I don’t know,” TJ said. “I wanted you to find out too, I think? I didn’t want to just tell you without proof. And there was a small part of me that was…worried.”

“Worried about what?” Cyrus asked, slightly confused.

“I was worried that I was wrong,” TJ said. “Or that I would mess up our friendship.”

“You couldn’t mess anything up,” Cyrus reassured him. “That’s impossible.”

“I didn’t think you could like me like that,” TJ said. “You never talked about liking anyone. I thought that you only thought about me as a friend.”

“I didn’t want to have feelings for anyone, in case they weren’t my soulmate,” Cyrus explained. “If I ever had a crush on anyone, I ignored it. I figured it would hurt too much if I turned out to be wrong.”

TJ nodded at the explanation, but the worried look hadn’t quite left his face yet. Cyrus dug his heels into the ground and slid off his swing. He walked over to TJ’s swing and put his hands out to grab the chains. TJ wasn’t swinging very hard, so it was easy to stop him in his path. He looked more than a little surprised, and Cyrus was soon aware of how close they were to one another.

“I like you,” he said, feeling his cheeks getting warmer with his confession. “I’ve always liked you. I never thought that there could be a chance that you would be my soulmate, so I never considered it to be a possibility. But it is. And…here we are.”

“Here we are,” TJ echoed, a slight smile starting to stretch across his face. “I like you too.”

“Well, that’s good,” Cyrus said, knowing that he was definitely blushing now. TJ’s worried expression had been replaced by a soft smile. He was looking at Cyrus differently than he ever had before, and Cyrus could feel his heart starting to speed up. TJ leaned forward, standing up from the swing, and Cyrus let go of the swing chains and felt himself taking a step back automatically to give the other boy room. But TJ followed him, coming closer to Cyrus again.

TJ gave him a questioning look, and Cyrus nodded an affirmation, butterflies erupting in his stomach in anticipation for what was going to happen. TJ reached up and gently cupped Cyrus’ face in his hands. He leaned in and Cyrus felt his eyelids flutter shut as TJ pressed his lips gently against Cyrus’. It was a sweet kiss that ended quickly, but it felt as though the whole world had shifted as a result. And when Cyrus opened his eyes, he saw that it had.

Everything around him was in color. The park had exploded into a cacophony of rainbow and it was almost overwhelming. Cyrus had to blink a few times in order to readjust his vision to the onslaught of colors. TJ seemed to be going through the same thing as him, which made sense.

“Wow,” Cyrus breathed, his gaze going back to TJ. He was already used to seeing TJ in color, so it was easier to focus on his face for the time being.

“Yeah,” TJ agreed, sliding his hands down to interlock them with Cyrus’. He leaned forward and kissed Cyrus again, provoking an out-of-breath laugh from the other boy. It would take both of them a little while longer to adjust to being able to see everything in color. And they had each other, which was the best part of all.


End file.
